Brewing Storm - Rookstar
by Rainwatch
Summary: Rookstar's had prophetic dreams. He knows the awful things little Rainkit is going to do in the future, and he wants to stop her. A sequel to Brewing Storm - Rainshade, and another short fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello, hello! This is a sequel to Brewing Storm - Rainshade. As with my other Warriors fanfic series, you don't necessarily have to read Rainshade ahead of time (all fics planned for this series can be read as stand-alone stories), but if you're ever planning on reading it, you should do it before you read this! This will spoil almost everything that happens in Rainshade!

* * *

Rookstar could remember the day he first laid eyes on little Rainkit.

She was a helpless scrap of fur back then. Of course, all of the kits were, but Rainkit was the smallest kit in the litter, and if it weren't for Brightsplash's determination, she wouldn't have got any milk. Brightsplash was darling, taking care of Rainkit despite Rookstar's warnings.

"She's just a kit," Brightsplash said. "She's young and innocent. How could she ever do those things? They're just nightmares, Rookstar."

But a leader's dreams are rarely just nightmares, and Rookstar dreamed every night of the terrible things that Rainkit would grow up to do. Stormkit, to, a little, but mostly Rainkit.

"Why are you trying so hard to save her?" Rookstar asked one day. "Just leave her at the edge of the den, and she won't be strong enough to crawl over and get milk. It's not killing her, Brightsplash, it's not against the warrior code."

"Because she's my kit," Brightsplash said fiercely. "You're not a heartless monster, Rookstar. You know how it feels to have a cat's lives in your paws!"

Rookstar was the leader of the ThunderClan. All he had to do was order Brightsplash to abandon Rainkit. But looking into Brightsplash's eyes, watching her try her hardest to get Rainkit moving and drinking milk, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Rookstar hated that there was even one cat in the Clan who could do that to him, who could play on his feelings and convince him not to do something. It made him feel vulnerable.

The moons passed. The kits were all apprenticed. Rookstar's nightmares slowly receded. He was starting to believe Brightsplash, that they were just figments of his imagination.

But then, one night, Rookstar had another vicious nightmare. It was the same as the others - Rainpaw and Stormpaw illegally crossing borders, Rainpaw attacking Rookstar and running away, and Rainpaw throwing her sister Lightningpaw into the gorge, but there was a twist at the end. Brightsplash was surrounded by rival warriors. And it was all Rainpaw's fault.

Rookstar wasn't sure how he knew it, really, but something in his gut just told him that it was Rainpaw who put Brightsplash in danger in his dream. He woke up furious, and he stomped over to confront Rainpaw.

She was eating a mouse with her siblings, Stormpaw and Lightningpaw. Rookstar snarled at her.

"What's got you in a bad mood?" Stormpaw said, flicking his tail.

"Rainpaw, where's Brightsplash?" Rookstar hissed.

"She's-" Stormpaw started.

"I'm talking to Rainpaw!" Rookstar snapped at him.

"She went out hunting near the SkyClan border," Rainpaw said. She must have seen Rookstar's angry expression, because she added, "Honest. That's what she told us, Rookstar, I didn't do anything wrong!"

 _Near the SkyClan border._

 _Attacked by rival warriors._

 _Oh no._

Rookstar raced out of camp. He numbly heard Rainpaw shouting, "Am I in trouble?" but he shoved that far, far, far into the back of his mind, because the only important thing in his world now was Brightsplash.

In a matter of minutes, Rookstar picked up the sound of cats fighting. He pushed himself harder, finally bursting into a clearing.

It was like his nightmare.

Brightsplash was surrounded by SkyClan warriors.

The moment the warriors saw him, they scampered away. Rookstar slowly crumpled to the ground. Brightsplash's dark coat, almost as black as Rookstar's, ordinarily only had a single white splatter on her chest, a "bright splash". But now her neck was red with blood.

"Brightsplash, no," Rookstar gasped. He was aware of some mangled sound coming from his throat, a mixutre of a cry, shout, and roar, but for some reason he couldn't hear it.

"I'm," Brightsplash panted, "sorry... Rookstar."

"What happened?" Rookstar demanded.

"Chasing... a pheasant," Brightsplash managed to get out. "Rainpaw... wanted... pheasant meat... crossed b... border..."

Rookstar buried his head into Brightsplash's neck fur, partly for comfort and partly to stop the bleeding. Tears slid down his face, and he couldn't stop them, and suddenly he was sobbing right in front of Brightsplash.

Brightsplash made Rookstar forget forget that he was leader.

Brightsplash could convince Rookstar to do anything.

Only Brightsplash could make Rookstar break down and cry.

Rookstar waited and waited. The only thing more unbearable than the thought of watching Brightsplash die was the thought of not being there for her final moments, so even though it was long, and it was painful, and his heart felt like it was being clawed into two, he stayed by Brightsplash's side. Finally, when Brightsplash's fur turned ice cold, he tore himself away from her and made his way back to camp.

"Rookstar!" Whitetuft yelped when he walked into camp. "What's wrong? What happened to your face?"

"Brightsplash," Rookstar said. _Deep breaths. Gotta stay strong for the Clan._

"What happened?" Redpaw, Whitetuft's apprentice, squeaked. "Is Brightsplash okay?"

Whitetuft and Redpaw were ThunderClan's medicine cats, and Redpaw adored Brightsplash. He had been born a little before Rainpaw and her siblings, and Brightsplash was like a second mother to him. Breaking the news was not going to be fun.

"She accidentally crossed the SkyClan border," Rookstar managed to get out. "There was a patrol there. They didn't... She didn't have a chance."

"Did you get hurt?" Whitetuft said.

"No," Rookstar said, slowly swishing his tail back and forth. "Just Brightsplash."

 _And it's all Rainpaw's fault._

 _My dream came true. All of my dreams are going to come true. Rainpaw's a menace, and she doesn't deserve to be a ThunderClan cat!_

"Where's Rainpaw?" Rookstar asked.

"In the sandy hollow," Whitetuft said. "Why?"

Rookstar ignored him. He wheeled around and sprinted towards the hollow, not bothering to turn around when Whitetuft yelled "Wait!" Nothing was going to stop him from punishing Rainpaw.

"This is your fault!" Rookstar burst when he got to the hollow. "This is all your fault!"

Rainpaw was play-fighting with Lightningpaw, their mentors watching from the fray. The two apprentices looked up curiously.

"Brightsplash was chasing a pheasant for _you_ ," Rookstar said, spitting out the word like it was poison.

"Me?" Rainpaw questioned.

"Yes! You deserve to be banished from ThunderClan!" Rookstar said.

"Now, let's not be hasty," came a voice. Rookstar knew who it was even before he turned around.

"Whitetuft, I've had enough of Rainpaw," Rookstar exploded at the medicine cat. "She as good as killed Brightsplash! I don't want to ever see her face on ThunderClan territory again!"

Rookstar growled under his breath. Whitetuft wasn't Brightsplash; Rookstar wouldn't bend to him.

"The SkyClan warriors killed Brightsplash, not Rainpaw," Whitetutft pointed out.

" _What_?" exclaimed Rainpaw. "What happened to Mom? What aren't you telling me?"

"She crossed the SkyClan border because of you!" Rookstar said angrily. "She's dead, and it's all your fault!"

"Rookstar, perhaps a better way to channel your... energy... would be to take this up with the SkyClan leader," Whitetuft suggested. "To get vengeance for Brightsplash."

"I'm getting vengeance for Brightsplash right now," Rookstar said. "And I'm not waging war on SkyClan. They had every right to what they did, because Brightsplash crossed their border, _because of Rainpaw_."

"I don't know!" Rainpaw said. "I just wanted a pheasant, and Mom said she'd bring me one!" She was starting to cry now, big fat tears sliding down her face. Rookstar fonud it hard to feel even a shred of remorse for her.

"Rookstar, the kit's mother just died," Whitetuft reminded him.

"Her fault," Rookstar said.

Rainpaw gave Whitetuft a horrified look. "Is it my fault that she's dead? I didn't mean it! I just want Mom back!"

Lightningpaw was starting to cry now, too. She had always been Rookstar's favorite of the kits, probably because she was the only one who Rookstar hadn't had a nightmare about. Rookstar's heart twisted a little.

"I'm begging you, Rookstar, she's young," Whitetuft said. "She doesn't understand the warrior code yet. And she didn't mean to! You can see how torn up she is over this!"

He did, and he was trying to ignore it.

 _Come on, Rookstar. What would Brightsplash think?_

"Fine, fine!" Rookstar said quickly. "I won't banish her. It's... it's not her fault."

But even as he was saying this, he didn't believe it. It was _definitely_ Rainpaw's fault. Everything was her fault! And everything would be her fault! Rookstar remembered his nightmares, every last one, and every horrible thing Rainpaw would do in the future. He couldn't just _forgive_ her for that!


	2. Chapter 2

The three siblings' warrior ceremonies were short and not very memorable. Stormpaw became Stormwind, Lightningpaw became Lightningfoot, and Rainbow became Rainshade, because Rookstar could see the shadow in her heart.

Shortly after he became a warrior, Stormwind was killed, in the same manner as Brightsplash: he crossed the RiverClan border so Flamesky, a RiverClan she-cat, could teach him how to fish, but a patrol caught him and attacked him. Rookstar's nightmares shifted gears; they were only about Rainshade, never Stormwind anymore. Rainshade and all of the terrible ways she would hurt the Clan.

Stormwind had made some questionable decisions, but outside of losing a warrior, at least they didn't affect ThunderClan and its day to day business. Rookstar had seen everything Rainshade would do, and he knew just how damaging it would be to ThunderClan. He want so desperately to put a stop to it, but what could he do? Banish her? She hadn't done anything yet.

And then, one day, she crossed SkyClan border and caught two pieces of fresh-kill. Adderstrike, a loyal warrior, saw it with his own eyes.

He could punish her, and no one would object, because she broke the warrior code. He could banish her!

"So the little code-breaker has come back with SkyClan prey," he had hissed at her when she entered the camp. She immediately bristled when she saw him.

"I brought back some fresh-kill, like you _asked_ ," she snapped back.

"You broke the warrior code!" Rookstar shouted.

"Since when did the code matter to you?" Rainshade snarled at him. "You didn't even care when the kits wandered out of camp! What kind of leader _are_ you, picking and choosing when you want to follow the code?!"

The kits she was talking about were Lightningfoot's. It was Lightningfoot's first litter, and she had them a few moons ago. Rainshade absolutely adored them.

Which gave Rookstar an idea.

They continued to argue for a few more minutes, Rainshade scrabbling to defend herself, Rookstar clearly winning. Finally, he had enough of fighting with her. He turned to Adderstrike and murmured, "Fetch me Lightningfoot and the kits."

He could see the horror spelled out on Rainshade's face. Rookstar curled his claws in satisfaction.

A few heartbeats later, Adderstrike and Lightningfoot came padding back with the kits. One of the smaller ones, a tortoiseshell Rookstar thought was called Goldenkit, cried out excitedly.

"Rainshade!" she exclaimed. "Did you bring us back prey?"

"Yes. A squirrel and a huge bird. They're all for you." Rookstar nearly growled out loud. Rainshade's voice was a little overly bitter.

"Lightningfoot," Rookstar said loudly. "Your sister has deliberately disregarded the warrior code. She must be punished for this. And Adderstrike and I have agreed on the perfect punishment."

They hadn't, but Lightningfoot and Rainshade didn't have to know that, and Rookstar thought it sounded more menacing anyway.

"You didn't," Lightningfoot whispered at her sister. "Rainshade, tell me you didn't! Tell me Rookstar is lying!"

Rookstar ignored both of them. He picked up one of the kits, a tiny gray scrap, and flung her across the camp. He repeated the action with all of the kits, the two tiny tortoiseshells and the bright red she-kit. Once he was done, he said as calmly as he could manage, "Adderstrike, Lightningfoot, Rainshade, please take these kits to the medicine den."

They acted obligingly, all except for Rainshade, who stood frozen, watching the remaining tortoiseshell kit whimper at the edge of camp.

"Any day now," Rookstar said, louder.

Rainshade angled her face towards him. To his surprise, it was contorted in anger, not pain like what he expected. And then suddenly she was soaring through the air towards him, and her claws were wrapped around his neck.

Rookstar roared and tried to bat her ear, but she grabbed his paws and pinned them down. He was bigger and smarter than Rainshade, he knew; he could beat her! He thrust his paws up, forcing Rainshade to fall over onto her side, and dove for her exposed belly. But then she was rolling and knocking him over, and her teeth found his ear. A spark of pain flashed in his ear.

"Rainshade!" Lightningfoot exclaimed, bursting out of the medicine den, but Rookstar could barely hear him. He could only think about what he was going to do to Rainshade.

Slowly the gray she-cat climbed off of him, backed away, stared down at him. Rookstar stared back at her, trying to contain his fury and smash them up into four little words.

"Adderstrike, bring me Rowankit."

Rainshade croaked in pain. He was right- Rowankit, the bright red kit, was her favorite kit.

Rookstar rose to his paws, gave his nicked ear a wash, and walked over to where Adderstrike was waiting with Rowankit. He closed his claws around the tiny kit's throat, relishing the feel of control he finally had over Rainshade. He had the life of someone she loved in his claws. He could fight back.

A small gray bullet slammed into Rookstar, and toppled over. Before he knew what was happening, Rainshade had snatched the kit away and was running for the thickets at the edge of the camp. Rookstar scrambled towards her, but Lihgtningfoot intercepted him, and he was grappling with the black she-cat in the middle of camp.

Black, gray, and red fur flashed by, and then Lightningfoot was gone. She had disappeared just like Rainshade and the kits.

"Rookstar, should we go after them?" That was the deputy, Badgerstripe.

Every fiber of his being wanted to scream yes, and it took all of his self control to quietly say, "No."

"Are you sure?" Badgerstripe asked.

"Of course I'm sure. I'm the leader of ThunderClan," Rookstar said, but by this point he was just talking to hear the words out loud, to remind himself that he _was_ the true leader of ThunderClan.

"But-" Badgerstripe worried.

"No!" Rookstar said. "If they end up being a problem, we'll deal with them then. But I don't think they'll come back."

"If you're sure," Badgerstripe said uncertainly.

 _I'm not sure,_ Rookstar thought, gazing back at the thicket. _But isn't this the right thing to do?_

 _Rainshade's going to come back. She_ will _come back; I've seen it in my dreams. And when she comes, I'll stop her once and for all with my own claws._

He turned and padded to get something to eat from the fresh-kill pile.


	3. Chapter 3

Two nights later, under the light of the full moon, Rookstar made his way to the Gathering with his Clan.

He didn't intend to go into very many details about Rainshade; it was embarrassing that a cat like her could manage to slip past his grip and run away with her sister and four kits. But it was Clan business, and it was his duty to at least mention it.

ThunderClan had been abuzz about Rainshade and Lightningfoot's flight for the past two days. It seemed like it was everything any cat could talk about. How had they escaped? Why? Did Rainshade really cross he SkyClan border? Why did Lightningfoot and the kits leave with her? Where were they now? Why wasn't Rookstar hunting them down? The escape was Clan business, and it was Rookstar's duty to at least mention it at the Gathering, but it was bad enough that ThunderClan already knew so much.

Rookstar grinded his teeth softly. He was right. He had always been right! Rainshade had ruined everything! If only Brightsplash had listened to him and abandoned the tiny kit instead of being so desperate to save her. Then none of this would've happened.

When they arrived, SkyClan, RiverClan, and WindClan were already there, and ShadowClan arrived a few heartbeats later. Partridgestar, the SkyClan leader, reported first.

"Prey is well and the river is flowing," Partridgestar announced. "A group of rogues were traveling through our territory, but we quickly dispatched of them." He narrowed his eyes at Rookstar. "The other day, we caught ThunderClan scent over the border. Do you have anything to say to that, Rookstar?"

"I do," Rookstar said, matching the other leader's aggressive tone. "We had a warrior who broke the code and crossed the border, but she's been adequately punished."

"Are you not in control of your warriors?" Partridgestar demanded. "This isn't the first time this has happened."

"The last time was seasons ago, and you've long since killed her!" Rookstar said. He was keeping reasonably calm given the situation, he thought to himself.

"I'd like to know how you punished this cat," offered the RiverClan leader, Graystar. "The Stormwind incident wasn't that long ago, you know."

"Isn't Brightsplash Stormwind's mother?" a SkyClan warrior murmured. "That whole family is trouble."

"For your information," Rookstar fumed, "Stormwind and his two sisters are gone! Rainshade crossed the border and ran away, and Lightningfoot went with her!"

"Clearly Brightsplash's bloodline is no good," offered Featherstar, the ShadowClan leader. "As long as none of her kits are still in the Clan, we should end this whole ordeal. Surely it's now iimprinted in the brains of Rookstar's cats that crossing the border will not be tolerated."

Featherstar's quiet wisdom and unnecessarily long words were infuriating to Rookstar. He would later look back and think about all the things he could've said, things that wouldn't have threatened the fragile alliance between he Clans, but he was so angry, and he just couldn't stop himself.

"I don't _need_ to 'imprint' it in their 'brains'!" he snapped. "They already knew that! My warriors always follow the code!"

"Except for this Rainshade character, clearly," Featherstar said.

" _You_ -" Rookstar began, ready to rattle off the worst insults he could think of, but at just that moment a yowl sounded from somewhere outside Fourtrees.

"That came from the gorge," said Graystar.

"Should we investigate?" asked Falconstar, the WindClan leader.

Partridgestar nodded, and the five leaders climbed off of the Great Rock and left the clearing. Rookstar could see four other cats, including the medicine cat Redfeather, following them to see what was going on.

As soon as they left the shelter of the trees, Rookstar's gaze landed on Rainshade.

"A rogue," Falconstar said with a sigh. "Let's chase her off and be done with it."

"No," Rookstar said. "This is no rogue. This is one of the cats I told you about who ran away. I've been wanting to get my claws on her for the past two days."

Rainshade's eyes were horrified. "Have mercy."

"Oh? You want _me_ to have mercy?" He lunged for her and started to tear his claws down her pelt.

"Rookstar, this isn't necessary." The black leader whipped his head around to see who spoke. It was Redfeather.

"This is definitely necessary! She broke the code multiple times!" Rookstar shouted, baring his teeth at the medicine cat. He turned back around, hardly able to hold a smile at the look of panic on Rainshade's face.

 _Your fault, you little worm. You caused all of this._

 _You crossed the border and caught SkyClan prey._

 _You shredded my ear._

 _And you killed Brightsplash._

"Rookstar, please," Rainshade begged, her voice hoarse.

But nothing could stop him now. It was long, and it was bloody, but Rookstar was the older and stronger cat, and eventually Rainshade stopped fighting and fell limp.

His face grim, his jaws set, Rookstar turned back to the other cats.

 _Would it have been different if she knew?_

"I don't..." Partridgestar said, shaking his head. "I don't understand. You were going to kill her before she ran away? But she slipped past your claws?"

"No," Rookstar said. "But I'm killing her now. Nobody runs away from me."

Featherstar regarded him coldly. "I will not be allied to a cat like you, Rookstar. If we meet in battle, we are not friends."

"Me neither," Falconstar said. "You can't control your own warriors."

"Me neither," Graystar and Partridgestar repeated.

"We'll close off the borders completely," Falconstar said. "If you're so much as a hairsbreadth into our territory, we'll attack."

"And we won't offer prey or water if you need it," Graystar added.

Rookstar hissed softly. The Clan leaders were turning their backs on him! He could hardly believe it!

 _I've got to wonder... Would it have been different if it wasn't such a secret?_

 _But we couldn't have told anyone. A responsible leader doesn't have a litter of kits. A responsible leader cares for their entire Clan._

"You're ridiculous," he said. "Now that Brightsplash and her kits are all gone, we won't have to deal with that bunch of code-breakers. ThunderClan will get back on track."

"We can't trust you anymore," Partridgestar said plainly. He turned to the other leaders. "Should we continue with the Gathering?"

"I've heard enough," Graystar said. "I'm getting my cats and going home."

They padded back to Fourtrees. Badgerstripe gave Rookstar a questioning look when he saw him.

"It was Rainshade," Rookstar explained. "I've dealt with her, though."

"Gathering dismissed," Falconstar said.

Rookstar started his Clanmates on the path back to camp, although his thoughts were less than half on the path and over half on Brightsplash.

 _It was right not to get involved. Brightsplash raised them fine on her own, and that way I could devote everything to ThunderClan. Like a real leader should._

 _And yet... they didn't turn out fine. Rainshade and Stormwind crossed the border, and Lightningfoot ran away to protect her code-breaking sister._

 _Would it have been different if we had told Rainshade?_

 _If she'd known that I'm her father?_

Rookstar hopped over a fallen log and beckoned his Clanmates after him.

 _No. We had to keep it quiet, so that the Clan didn't think that I cared more about my kits than the good of the whole Clan._

 _I'm sorry, Rainshade. Daughter._

 _If it would have made any difference knowing your father... we'll never know now._

Rookstar padded soundlessly into camp and settled down in his den.


End file.
